The Cecil Whig., 1887-06-04
HOW TO BE WELL.
What n Literary Athlete Says-JulIan Haw-
therne,s Opinion, and SugSsstions.

HOW TO BE WELL.
What u Literary Athlete says-JulIan Haw-
thsrne's Opinions and Suggestions.
You can improve your physical health
and strength several hundred per cent
without ever touching club or dumb
bell, Or pulling weight. In fact, gym
naSiums often dc harm, for two reasons:
first, because of the confined air; secondly
because those who attend them do not
know what sort of work is best suited to
them, and are apt to overdo the work
they undertake, thereby distorting them
selves, and sapping their vitality, an
ounce of which is worth ton of mus.
Gle" in the long run. Too much muscle
will shorten your life; but vitality is life
itself.
The stomach, the skin, and the lungs
are the three essential things in a human
being. SO long as they are in perfect
order, the finest professional gymnast can
have little to teach you. To keep them
in good condition, no gymnasium or
gymnastic apparatus is required; still less
any pepsine pills or sarsaparilla. You
can do it all yourself, without altering
your UuSlutSS VI oOllltSUlC UdUllS, Vi pun
ting yourself to any yinconvenience. Quite
the contrary. But it is extraordinary,
the ingenuity some people show, wht n
the choice is offered them between two
things or courses, one healthy, the other
unhealthy, but both equally available or
easy-the diabolical certainty, say, with
which they fix upon that which is un-
healthy. Whatever the metaphysical
Ia. f,f <J,o h,,ll, Of
kind may be, their physical morality
often seems not far removed from total
depravity.
Take the stomach first. How many of
our average citizens can lay their hands
upon that noble organ and swear that
week q might we'll say, a day) passes in
which they do not overload it with pie,
pickles and candy? And how many gal
Ions of strong-even green tea-and hot
coffee per annum do they drench them
selves with? AS to mastication, regularity
of meals, respect for the digestive pro,
cesses, and SO forth, say nothing. After
we have ceased to stuff ourselves with
trash that has no more nourishment in it
than sawdust and is actively injurious
into the bargain, we may begin to con-
slider these more elevated subjects. We
hear of crusades against alcohol; but
have no sympathy with pie and candy
eating and tea and coffee drinking man
or woman, who breaches temperance or
abstinence; let them first take the beam
out of their own eye. A small quantity
of alcohol administered at the right time
may do good; pie and candy and green
| tea never can. Abstain from such stuff
entirely; never drink anything hotter
than blood heat. Let your only condi-
meuts be salt and mustard, in modera
ton; eat butter sparngly, and cheese not
at all; for breakfast and supper have
bread and milk, oatmeal and eggs; for
dinner, fresh meat and vegetables, be-
tween half pint Of soup and couple of
spoonfuls Of light pudding. AS to drink,
if you are thirsty, you can drink water
if the water is bad take mineral water,
with an occasional glass of pure ale or
| claret. Every five or ten minutes stop
and ask yourself whether you have not
had enough; and If you think you can get
along with what you have eaten, do not
take another mothful. Never try to
tempt" your appetite; on the contrary,
ask yourself whether you could, if
necessary, make your meal on pure bread
and water; and if the answer is in the
negative, omit that meal and see how
you feel at the next-but never eat be-
tween meals. If you ate only wholesome
things, you could live and thrive on half
the present bulk OF your food. Starva
ticn is the best cure for dyspepsia; pick
me-ups only keep it alive. After you
| have lived on reasonable food for month
| or two, you will no longer be troubled
with squeamish appetite. II any way
| practicable, You ought to have at least
half an hour in the open air before sitting
| down to the table: and at any rate wash
your face and arms and chest in cool
water. But l must leave the stomach
| here, with hundred things still to be
| said about it.
Now for the skin. Ninety nine people
| out of hundred never think about their
| skin, though the health of all their in
ternal organs depends upon its condition.
1t is no use washing your face and hands
| and leaving the rest of your body un-
touched. 1t is little better to stand in
front of a basin and spatter yourself from
head to foot with water. You must
cleanse every part of your skin thoroughly
once day. | am no advocate of discom-
fort IN bathiDg-cold water in cold
room, and all such nonsense. Have the
| room warm, and the water only few
degrees cooler. Stay in the bath five
minutes, keeping yourself either under
water or pouring wet all the time. But
| it is after you leave the tub that the
| really important part of the bath begins.
Dry yourself thoroughly with two towels;
| then take stiff flesh brush, and try
| with all your might to rub your skin off.
| A cocoanut-f fibre brush is the best; and
| to get at your back, it is good plan to
ha a pnooaDnt- Fl hra hupn araipst
the wall to rub yourself against. Keep
up this friction for at least ten minutes.
| You could not invest the same amount of
time more usefully. There is no such
remedy for a feverish habit as this, moth
ing like it to relieve the internal organs
from undue heat and congestion of blood,
and to free the lungs from oppression.
Moreover, it actually increases the size
of the muscles, and makes them firmer,
by causing the blood to circulate more
vigorously in them. AS to its effect upon
the elasticity and beauty of the skin itself
that will be obvious enough at a glance.
| 1t is the brush, not the toilet bottle, that
furnishes the only true Bloom of Youth.
But the morning bath and rub down
alone are not sufficient. If, during the
| day, you get into perspiration do not
allow the moisture to dry on your skin.
Never come in from walk or a horse
| back ride or low, and sit down as you
| are. 60 to your room, take off every
thing, and use the brush. 1t may seem
inconvenient at first but when it is done
you will rejoice, and soon it Will become
matter of course to you. If your under
clothing is damp, it is. of course, best to
| change it; but if the skin has been
brushed red, you may venture to resume
the same clothes with comparative i'm
punity. This friction after exercise is
of great importance; so much SO, that it
may be affirmed that three-fourths of the
benefit of any exercise is lost without it.
II you forsee that it will be impossible,
after your exercise, to take rundown.
then it will often be better to choose the
ub-dOwn instead of the exercise.
Once week-say on Sunday, when
you have more time-you should take
bath of more elaborate kind. Fill the
tub with water as hot as you can bear it.
Get in and stay in until you feel almost
uncomfortably warm. Then stand up
aud take big sponge or pitcher full
of cold water, and deluge yourself again
and again from head to foot. This is de-
licious; there are few things that give SO
keen sense of physical wholesomeness
and vigor. Dry and rub down as usual
and you will imagine yourself ten years
younger. The stimulus to the circulation
is enormous. 1t is one of the best pre-